Comments on: The Virtually Vanishing Vacation

By: Foobarista

Foobarista — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:25:34 +0000

This is why, once a year, we take a long backpacking vacation into the Yosemite high country. Cellphones and other gadgets don’t work, so you’re completely cut off. It is quite nice not to worry about the latest email or cellphone call.

Personally, a Rubicon I refuse to cross is anything like a Blackberry. Email can always wait until I get in front of a computer.

By: dryfuss

dryfuss — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 20:38:32 +0000

There is an emergency phone available to you, use it and leave the cells at home. All the messages will be their for you, however you will never be able to get back the missed time you will not have with your family if you fail to heed my words. Roger, you owe it to yourself , wife & daughter to enjoy the time left of your vacation.
Go kayaking/canoeing/hiking & mountain biking. Pack a lunch and go to the beach.
Remember, “STRESS” will always be available to make life less than
you want it to be. It is up to you to set the boundries during vacation time.
You have a world community that wants you to enjoy this time out
from cell & computer even if it is only a few days of absolution.
Please breath deep and enjoy.

By: dryfuss

dryfuss — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 20:38:19 +0000

By: Mike in Oregon

Mike in Oregon — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 19:40:32 +0000

Have to agree with Steven. We can choose to turn off our devices and enjoy our vacations, or we can leave them on (important people that we are) and complain about it. Seems like a no-brainer.

By: este

este — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:54:34 +0000

I schlep real estate on Bainbridge at http://www.360modern.com and have until recently been reluctant to be “out of contact” for more than a week at a time given the risks of missing business and the calendar deadlines inherent in my biz and the consequences of missing one. The combination of the week prior in trying to anticipate any potential problems and the week post spent putting out the inevitable fires upon my return, not to mention the nagging feeling while gone that something urgently needs my attention, sometimes makes my getaways less than ideal as a stress reducer.
On my most recent escape however to the wilds north of Priest Lake in Idaho, equipped merely with cell phone, laptop and air card, I was able to spend two weeks in an area remote enough that moose were a common sight and food had to be kept in bear proof lockers. I spent an hour a day checking messages, returning calls, updating the website, (maintaining my Pajamas Media habit!). For me anyway the ability to keep in minimal contact with the “real world” makes for a much more enjoyable vacation rather than dropping off the face of the earth.
I’ve been a long time reader of your blog and Pajamas by the way. Love what you do.

By: Lem

Lem — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:27:19 +0000

What’s the point of having something if you are going to turn it off?

Stay tuned Roger. Relaxing is for pets

By: Barry Dauphin

Barry Dauphin — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:21:50 +0000

You’re not saying you want to move to France, are you?

By: Fausta

Fausta — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:58:52 +0000

Otherwise we’d be in cardiac arrest
And here I thought the knees were the first thing to go!

By: Steven E. Ehrbar

Steven E. Ehrbar — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 02:47:12 +0000

Off buttons, Roger. Escape is a matter of choice.

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 21:46:20 +0000

My son, a college student, is in China for the summer doing various forms of helping-out work. For his first two weeks he was in a tiny village in Yunnan province — not the end of the world, as he said, but you could see it from there. No electricity, no running water, sleep on the floor in a tent. Now, at my house — Topanga Canyon, in the Santa Monica Mountains in the western part of Los Angeles County — cell phones do not work. But in that tiny, electricity- and running water-free village? You bet.